The broad long-term objective of the 7th International Symposium on Purine and Pyrimidine Metabolism in Man is the continued development of our knowledge about this fundamental branch of human metabolism and the numerous applications of this knowledge to the prevention, control and treatment of various important forms of disease. The specific aims, as set out in more detail in the Research Plan, are to hold a series of overview "state of the art" lectures, numerous shorter oral presentations, poster sessions, workshops and discussions between scientists and clinicians from many parts of the world, with a view to achieving this objective.